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The Audit Process

It employs a structured approach to assess a company’s commitment to meeting the strict Halal Export Regimes and Sharia Law. It is 3 stage process: which include:

Stage 1

Initial Assessment

Prior to approval

· An initial assessment of documented procedures, in house management knowledge and capability to manage the care and responsibility for Halal guardianship is carried out by our Halal Auditor. This will involve an initial visit to the production facility. Depending on the size and complexity of an operation, it may require more than one Auditor. Our standards also require close supervision from one of our Islamic Affairs experts who may need to provide input, depending on the situation.

· Once we feel the documentation is in order, a reality check is made to check all processes are what they say they are and will continually deliver a Halal product fit for certification. This will also involve a visit to the production facility. This will result in an audited report, detailing the findings, any observations, corrective actions needed, and the audit outcome recommendation

The stage 1 audit report is submitted with a recommendation for approval to the NZIDT certification committee for review. The committee who must remain impartial, will review of findings of stage 1 against the Halal Export Regulations and Sharia Law. A decision to approval or reject is made here. This is communicated back to the client

Our certification committee is made up of Mr. Taoufik Elidrissi, Dr. Mohamed Osman Elamien – our Certification Issuance Officers - and at least one independent Senior Halal Auditor. The certification committee takes care of all initial certification decisions and recertification, withdrawals, suspensions, extensions, changes of scope and special circumstances decisions. Impartiality must be maintained at all times.

Stage 3

Performance Based Verification

Following certification of a plant, the plant licence will be issued. This is valid for 12 months. Before the expiry date, the operator must reapply for certification at which time a full re-certification audit will take place. Please note, during the re-certification process we are required to consider the last 12 months operational performance, and other aspects that may affect the clients’ ability to sustainably deliver compliance.

In between certifications we carry out regular verification audits to check compliance and follow up on corrective actions. As export consignment certificates can be issued frequently and under considerable volume, we must be sure compliance is being maintained in accordance with the documented Halal Programme and Sharia Law.

The verification audits are scheduled, although one un-notified visit is performed once per 12 months. They are much shorter than certification audits, usually part of a day. The results are recorded and reported back to the operator.

The frequency of visits depends on the operator’s performance and is managed by sliding scale. If an operator demonstrates consistent compliance the visit frequencies become less. The scale is defined by industry type in most cases.

We also consider the issuance of Halal Export / Consignment Certificates part of Stage 3. The Halal Export / Consignment Certificate is a certificate requested by the operator to cover a consignment of material for export or sale for which a Halal Assurance is sought by the market. This assurance is actually given by the New Zealand Government, and NZIDT as the Approved Halal Organisation, issues these on behalf of the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries.

At all times, NZIDT Limited will strive to be as transparent as possible about its process, certification outcomes, and Governing Regulations.